Gas-engine.



B. M. ASLAKSON. GAS ENGINE APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, I908.

Patented May 16, 1911.

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B. M. ASLAKSON.

GAS ENGINE. APPLICATION IILI ID JUNE 22, 1908.

Patented May 16, 1911.

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B. M. ASLAKSON.

GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION IILED JUNE 22, 1908.

Patented May 16, 1911.

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B. M. ASLAKSON.

GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION rum) mm: 22, 1908.

Patented May 16, 1911.

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GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1908.

992,141 Patented May 16,1911.

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UNITED STATES PATENT ornrcn.

BAXTER M. ASLAKSON, OF SALEM, OHIO.

GAS-ENGINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BAXTER M. ASLAKSON, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Salem, Columbiana county, Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in GasEngines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to gas engines and the object of my invention is to provide a tandem engine construction of improved design and utility, the specific features of which will be described in the following specification and pointed out particularly in the claims presented herewith.

Referring to the drawings which form a part of this specification,Figure 1, is a general plan view of the engine. Fig. 2, is a longitudinal sectional view of the cylinders and casing, disclosing both an exterior and sectional view of the piston construction and the general arrangement of the cooperating parts. Fig. 3, is a vertical cross sectional view through one of the cylinders, in let and exhaust valves and air and gas conduits, the air and gas controlling valves and means employed for operating the valves being also disclosed. Fig. 4, is an end elevational view of the engine from the crank end, the main connecting rod being removed, and discloses the timer mounted on the lay shaft. Fig. 5, is a cross sectional view through a portion of the engine frame, main crank, and auxiliary crank through which the lay shaft and governor is driven.

In describing the engine, I will first take up the construction of the valves and their operation.

Referring to Fig. 3, A indicates a casing having a working cylinder A, both shown in cross section and taken on line ZZ of Fig. 1, and having a water chamber a for cooling purposes and openings a, a, for sparking devices.

The inlet valve B is seated in a removable valve casing B, and the exhaust valve C, is seated in a removable valve casing C, each of said valve casings being located in openings cored in the cylinder casing and each being provided with conduits or passageways through which the gases flow.

D, indicates the main conduit for air and E, the main conduit for gas.

D is a pipe held by a flange (Z to the casing F, and E is a pipe located within the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 22, 1908.

Patented May 16, 1911. Serial No. 439,649.

pipe D and connected to casing F so that conduit E will extend to the gas control valve G. It will be'noted that the casing F serves as a housing for all of the valves except the cylinder inlet and exhaust valves. The valve 11 controls the admission of air to the mixing chamber D and is manually set in a proper position to admit the required volume.

The valve G controls the admission of gas to the mixing chamber D and is automatically controlled by the governor I. The valve J controls the admission of the mixed gases comprising the fuel charge to the chamber K, presented by the valve casing B, and said valve J is operated by the governor I and by means of the same rod L through which motion is transmitted to control valve G. This latter valve G is of the mushroom type and closes on the top of a cylindrical seat F, the cone shape of said valve on its under side permitting the supply of gas to be graduated, dependent on the distance the valve is from its seat. The valve G is held to its seat by a spring M, which also acts to hold the lever N in its lowest position by reason of the connection of same with the valve rod G. The valve G may be removed through the opening covered by the cap 0, which has a central bore 0, serving as a guide for the valve rod G.

A link N provides for the necessary rela tive lateral movement between the rod G and lever N. The eccentric rods P and P operate the inlet valve B, and exhaust valve C, respectively, through the instrumentality of an eccentric P which is mounted on a lay shaft P, which extends longitudinally of the engine and is driven through the instrumentality of an auxiliary crank hereinafter referred to.

The eccentric rod P is directly connected to a rock lever Q which is pivoted at Q to the top of the valve casing B, and the face 9 of said lever is adapted to rock on the top of a lever R pivoted at r to the casing B.

Pivoted to a lever R on a shaft R is a bifurcated lever N, the end of which at the shaft R is carried downward with the movement of the lever R, the under side of the shaft R being flattened at its middle to allow the flat portion to rest on the capped end Z) of the valve rod 6.

Located in an annular chamber B in the casing B, is a spring S, the bottom of which rests against the casing, and the top end of which abuts a flange which is connected to the valve rod 6, and serves to hold same, together with valve B in'its upper position.

T, indicates a guideway lining which is firmly attached to the casing B by frictional engagement therewith, and its inner surfice has a close sliding fit with the valve rod U, indicates a bell-crank lever having a roller U at one end, to reduce friction when moving in contact with the under side of the lever N, which lever N is curved to form an arc of a circle on its under side. The vertical member of the bell-crank lever serves as a movable fulcrum for the lever N, by means of which the degree of the opening movement of the valve G is governed.

Connected to the arm a of the bell-crank lever U, is a curved cast member V, the lower end of which is connected to a rod L, indicated in dotted lines, which rod L is con nected at its opposite end to the lever I of the governor.

The exhaust valve C, is operated by mechanism arranged practically the same as that described for the operation of valve B, and is clearly shown by the drawings. The casing C, and the housings C are however, made in two parts instead of integral as the casing B, and the part C iscast hollow thus forming a chamber C which may be used as a water jacket. A lining C spans the opening 0, and serves as a guide for the rod C ,.and also prevents water from leaking past said rod. Both castings B and C are seated firmly in the cylinder casting at B and C respectively, and their opposite'ends are fitted in sliding engagement with the borings at B and C respectively, thus preventing leakage at these points. It will be noted that the cylinder casing is extended at the exhaust portion and water jacketed so that the hot gases may be cooled to some extent before entering the exhaust pipe A Since one of the principal factors conducive to a high thermal economy is a high compression of the gases, it follows that the ideal method of regulation would be to maintain a constant degree of compression at all loads. WVith such arrangement, a gas engine would more nearly retain a uniform thermal economy under all loads. Such a method of regulation could be carried out by regulating the quality of the mixture to suit any load variation, but the practicability of this system fails at the low loads since the mixture becomes too attenuated to ignite properly. I therefore have devised a system which combines the quality and quantity system of regulation.

Assuming the engine to be fully loaded, and then the load falling off gradually to merely a friction load, if the load falls from throttling'begins and compression begins to drop.

In operation, air is conducted through the conduit l) to fiow past the valve H, which latter is set in a predetermined position and may be adjusted manually while the engine is running. The air then flows into the annular channel D and to the chamber D In passing from said channel to said chamber, the air mixes with the gas which is released by the valve G, from the conduit E, and the mixture is then controlled by valve J, which is automatically operated by the governor I. The fuel charge is admitted to the interior of the cylinder A by inlet valve B, which is operated by the eccentric Y and cooperative instrumentalities P, Q, R and S, as previously described. The speedof the engine is maintained under variable loads by the governor and cooperating parts, which operate the gas valve G and charge valve J, as follows: Assuming the engine to be operating under a normal load, the downward stroke of the lever B would lift the valve G a certain distance from its seat and admit gas to the chamber D in proportion to the lift, the wheel U being the fulcrum on which the member N rocks. Now suppose the load on the engine is increased, the governor will force the rod L farther to the right, thus forcing wheel U to the left, thereby shortening the distance from the fulcrum to the shaft R, and there fore the downward stroke of lever B will raise the valve G higher from its seat and more gas will flow to the chamber D? An increase in the speed of the engine will operate to throw the lever U to the left and thus decrease the amount of gas admitted to the chamber D The movement of the governor also controls the valve J by reason of the connection with the same through the link W, and a very nice adjustment of the relative gases admitted to the cylinder is maintained. When the mixture of gas and air is reduced to a minimum of gas and the ignition is reaching a point where it would fail to quickly fire the charge by reason of the attenuation of the charge, the valve J begins to restrict the volume of fuel flowing to the cylinder, and compression is then slowly reduced to govern the speed of the engine. The spring M serves to assist gravity in seating valve G and to hold lever N in is constant and driven in timed relation with the crank.

By referring to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that there are four sets of these valves which are located at the respective ends of the two cylinders adjacent to the cylinder heads 6, 0, etc., which heads are respectively provided with flanges e, by means of which they are bolted in position in the cylinders. The cylinder heads are cast with a chamber formed therein indicated by 6 through which water is circulated to keep them cool, and each cylinder head is provided with a stuffing box 6 through which the piston rods we pass in the usual manner. In order to facilitate the casting of such large cylinders and casings provided with valve casing portions as shown, the middle portion of the cylinder casings are cast open so that the opening may be used to inspect the outer shell of the cylinder A and thus be able to judge of the perfectness of the casting, and this opening is closed by bolting two semicircular portions A" and A together by bolts A to the cylinder casings A to form tight water chambers a, as will be readily understood. Thisconstruction serves another very useful purpose, since it allows the cylinder A and easing A to expand in different ratio from each other longitudinally, the shell A serving as an expansion joint and thereby preventing the cylinders and casings from cracking, which might otherwise occur due to the considerable difference in temperature existing under working conditions between the cylinder A and easing A. It will be noted that the casings and cylinders A and A respectively, are supported between the ends of the housings f, f and ft, above pits g and g respectively, which may be formed in a base casting, or may be built up from concrete or masonry. In the present case the base is supposed to be concrete or other suitable construction of this character, and supported thereon is a frame of cast metal in separated portions indicated by it, h and 7L2 respectively, which are secured to the bed by bolts anchored in said bed portion in the usual manner. The housings f, f and f are in turn bolted to the portions /i, h and h respectively, and are provided at their ends which are located adjacent to the cylinders A, with a countersunk portion which forms an annular flange and a projecting flange A and A respectively, in which the ends of the cylinders are supported, and which insures the perfect alinement of the respective cylinders with each other.

The cylinder head, cylinder and housing, are connected together at their respective ends as follows: A stud bolt j is screwed into the casing A in permanent position as indicated, and passes through a hole in the flange A of the housing, and a nut is, is

screwed on the bolt and against the housing to hold the latter together, and the cylinder head 6 is then placed in position, the bolt 7' being long enough to extend through a hole in the flange c a sutlicient distance for the nut 7: to screw thereon and hold the cylinder head firmly against a shoulder A formed in the bore at the point indicated. A sutficient number of these bolts are used to perfectly hold the heads. Located in each cylinder is a piston Z, which is formed with a tubular center Z, and an annular chamber Z is formed in the piston and serves as a water chamber to cool the same. The pistons are mounted on a piston rod which is formed in four sections indicated by m, m, m and m", respectively, and the said sections are p 'actically tubes through which water may be conveyed to within the chambers formed in the pistons and therefrom in circulation, to cool the pistons and rods. The end of the rod section m is connected to a supporting guide a which slides in a guideway a formed in the housing and one end of the rod mis connected to the yoke 72, the opposite ends of the rods on and m being connected to the piston Z. The rod m is also connected to the yoke p and to the other piston, and the rod m from said last mentioned piston to the cross head 8. It will be observed that the yoke 72 and cross head 8 are each provided with shoes which are supported in guides in the respective housings, and that the shoes are pivoted to the body portion of the yoke and cross head in such a manner that any slight misalinement of the rod sections may be corrected by adjusting the yoke and cross head. The yoke, cross head and guide carry the weight of the pistons so that only the piston rings are in contact with the inner walls of the cylinders, and by this arrangement excessive wear is prevented, and the cylinders kept true for a much longer period of time than would otherwise be the case. t, indicates the connecting rod which drives the main crank o.

Referring to Fig. 5, 0 indicates the main crank of the engine which is provided with a crank-pin o. 10-, indicates a casting provided with a cover 10, which is mounted on the engine frame, and mounted therein in suitable boxes A and A is a shaft B which is mounted in alinement with main shaft B", and mounted thereon at one end is a crank C, which is driven by means of crank-pin D, connected to crank-pin '12 as follows: The crank Q7 and pin '0 are provided with a bore '0 which is enlarged in diameter at '0, thereby forming a shoulder at 1)", against which the inner head of the bolt E abuts. The bolt E extends through the main crank and within the crank-pin '0' a short distance, thus strengthening the pin at the point where it joins the crank v, and is provided with a tapped end E into which one end of the crank pin D is screwed, as shown. The crank pin D is provided with a shoulder D which abuts against a cap F which serves to hold the connecting rod (not shown in this figure) on the crank pin 4), and also serves as an abutment whereby bolt E may be drawn into position and retained therein, as will be readily understood. The shank D of the crank-pin D*, is of less diameter than the bore 41 thereby forming a chamber 42 having a passage '0 leading to the surface of the crank pin 02. Formed in the crank C is an annular chamber U, which is in open communication with the atmosphere at its left side by an annular groove C, which extends in a circle concentric with the chamber C through which oil is introduced through a pipe which leads thereto (not shown) to within the chamber C whence it is thrown by centrifugal action through passage C pipe C and passage F to chamber 01 and thence through passage 0) to the surface of the crank pin '0. The bearing surface of the crank pin D is round in form and rests in a box bearing G, which is held together in the crank C by bolts which pass through the holes G, and a nut H screws on the end of the crank pin D as shown. The box Gr is free to move-longitudinally a limited distance relative to the crank casting, which is provided with an opening of greater length than that of said box. This arrangement provides a ball joint between the crank pin D and crank C, so that any wear tending to throw the main shaft out of alinement with the auxiliary shaft B, will not cause undue heating or strain of crank pin C Mounted on shaft B are two gears, I and 1* respectively, the gear 1 being in mesh with gear J which is mounted on the governor drive shaft J which extends through the pedestal K which is mounted on the casing cover w, as shown, and secured thereto by stud bolts and nuts J. The gear I is in mesh with and drives the gear L which is indicated in dotted lines and which is mounted on the lay shaft P one end of which is supported in the box h/P, which is mounted in the casing w. The gear L is double the diameter of the gear I and is therefore driven at one half of the speed of the latter. The casting w is secured to the frame by stud bolts in the usual manner, indicated at N in Fig. 1.

The lay shaft P is supported in boxes P which are supported by brackets P An outboard bearing is indicated at N in Fig. 1, and the engine fly wheel is indicated by N and N indicates a dynamo.

A timer 0 is mounted on the end of the lay shaft P (Fig. 7 and is driven thereby, and the period of ignition is controlled by the governor I through the instrumentality of a rod P in a manner known to the art.

The gases are ignited by spark plugs, one of which is located at each end of the working cylinders andtheir timing is controlled by the timer which is mounted on the end of the lay shaft as illustrated in Fig. 4. There is a timer contact arranged in cooperative relation for each spark plug, unless there is more than one plug arranged in each end of a cylinder, in which case they may be connected in series. In the present case, the arrangement of the wiring to operate same is understood in the art and needs no further description.

R indicates an oil reservoir and R the piping through which the oil is distributed to the bearing surfaces.

It will be understood that by using four sets of valves as illustrated with two working cylinders, every stroke of the engine will be a power stroke, the valves being adjusted to effect this result.

By the construction above described, I have secured a very compact and durable construction, all the parts of which are easily accessible for inspection or repairs.

I claim- 1. A gas engine comprising a plurality of cylinders arranged in tandem relation, a housing located between said cylinders and a housing located at the opposite ends thereof respectively, said cylinders being connected to and supported by said housings; a piston in each of said cylinders mounted on rods which extend through stuffing boxes located at the ends of said cylinders, guides located in said housings, and cross heads engaging said guides and connecting with said rods and adapted to carry the said pistons.

2. A gas engine comprising a cylinder having a divided casing, a removable band which unites the divided portions and con tributes to form an annular water chamber between said cylinder and casing; a frame provided with a bearing for a main shaft; a main shaft supported therein; a crank carried by said shaft and provided with a crank-pin; a lay shaft extending longitudinally of said frame and driven from said crank-pin; inlet and exhaust valves communicating with said cylinders; valve rods for actuating said valves; and means mounted on said lay shaft and connected with said .rods to actuate the same.

3. A gas engine comprising a cylinder provided with shoulders; a cylinder head extending in said cylinder having a flange at one end, and provided with shoulders which abut the said shoulders in the cylinder; a housing having a flange at one end; and bolts extending from said cylinder through the flange in said cylinder head and the flange in said housing to unite said parts together, the flange of said cylinder head being located outside of that of .the housing to permit said head to be removed without disconnecting the housing from the cylinder.

4. A gas engine comprising, a plurality of cylinders arranged in tandem relation, inlet and exhaust valves for said cylinder, means for operating said valves, a housing located between said cylinders and a housing located at the opposite ends thereof respectively, said cylinders being connected to and supported by said housings; a pistonin each of said cylinders mounted on rods which extend through stuffing boxes located at the ends of said cylinders, guides located in said housings, and cross heads engaging said guides and connecting with said rods and adapted to carry the said pistons.

5. A gas engine comprising, a plurality of cylinders arranged in tandem relation, a housing located between said cylinders and a housing located at the opposite ends thereof respectively, said cylinders being connected to and supported by said housing; a piston in each of said cylinders mounted on rods which extend through stufling boxes located at the ends of said cylinders, guides located in said housings, cross heads engaging said guides and connecting with said rods and carrying said pistons, inlet and exhaust valves for said cylinders, a frame provided with a bearing for a main shaft, a main shaft supported therein, a crank carried by said shaft and provided with a crank-pin, a lay shaft, an auxiliary shaft geared thereto and provided with a crank, means for connecting said last named crank to said crank-pin, valve rods for actuating said valves, and means mounted on said layshaft and connected with said rods to actuate the same.

6. A gas'engine comprising, a plurality of cylinders arranged in tandem relatlon, a housing located between said cylinders and a housing located at the opposite ends thereof respectively, said cylinders being connected to and supported by said housings, a piston in each of said cylinders mounted on rods which extend through stuffing boxes located at the ends of said cylinders, guides located in said housings, cross heads engaging said guides and connecting with said rods and carrying said pistons, inlet and exhaust valves for said cylinders, a frame provided with a bearing for a main shaft, a main shaft supported therein, a crank carried by said shaft, an auxiliary shaft driven thereby, a lay shaft driven by said auxiliary shaft, eccentrics mounted thereon, and rods connected thereto, one of which actuates one of said inlet valves and one of which actuates one of said exhaust valves.

7. A gas engine comprising, a plurality of cylinders arranged in tandem relation, a housing located between said cylinders and a housing located at the opposite ends thereof respectively, said cylinders being connected to and supported by said housings, a piston in each of said cylinders mounted on rods which extend through stuffing boxes located at the ends of said cylinders, guides located in said housings, cross heads engaging said guides and connecting with said rods and carrying said pistons. inlet and exhaust valves for said cylinders, a frame provided with a bearing for a main shaft, a main shaft supported therein, a crank carried by said shaft, an auxiliary shaft driven thereby, a lay shaft driven by said auxiliary shaft, eccentrics mounted thereon, rods connected thereto, one of which actuates one of said inlet valves and one of which actuates one of said exhaust valves, and a timer mounted on said lay shaft and driven thereby.

8. A gas engine comprising, a plurality of cylinders arranged in tandem relation, a housing located between said cylinders and a housing located at the opposite ends thereof respectively, said cylinders being connected to and supported by said housings, a piston in each of said cylinders carrying pivoted shoes and mounted 011 rods which extend through stutling boxes located at the ends of said housings, cross heads engaging said guides and connecting with said rods and carrying said pistons, inlet and exhaust valves for said cylinders, a frame provided with a bearing for a main shaft, a main shaft supported therein, a crank carried by said shaft and provided with a crank-pin, a lay shaft, an auxiliary shaft geared thereto and provided with a crank, means for connecting said last named crank to said crank-pin, valve rods for actuating said valves, and means mounted on said lay shaft and connected with said rods to actuate the same.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this tenth day of January 1908.

BAXTER M. ASLAKSON.

Witnesses:

FRANK M. ASHLEY, A. T. sCI-IARF.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

